


Come Back, I Miss You

by kuraleap52



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24158329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuraleap52/pseuds/kuraleap52
Summary: I take a big gulp before approaching my former lover. When I make eye contact, I feel a rush of a million emotions go through my heart. My eyes relax at the sight of his beauty, but my brain panics from the amount of painful memories attached to him. I don't even realize how awkward this is until his awkward smile pulls me out of my thoughts."Uh.. hey. I- uh welcome," I stutter, pulling Charlie into a hug. We, at very least I, seem to melt into the hug. His touch is so familiar that it's creepy. I mean, we broke up nine years ago, yet I still remember his touch.
Relationships: Charlie Coyle/Chris Wagner
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy reading!

I've texted Wags a little bit since our breakup. Mostly just casual conversations like, "Hey, how are you?" I obviously couldn't tell him, "Miserable without you," but I wanted to. I really _was_ miserable without him. I'd be happy to go back to him, except it was him that went away. He broke my heart. His reasoning was, "I'm just too afraid of the consequences. What if coach finds out? What if the team finds out? We'll probably get kicked off! I'm the captain, so coach trusts me to make the right decisions." After that, I tried reasoning with him, but he kept avoiding me. For the rest of the season, he kept ignoring me. I was heartbroken. Fast forward a few years and we're both in the NHL. Wags playing in Anaheim and me playing in Minnesota. Now, I, along with Wags, am a Boston Bruin. I've only been a Bruin for a couple hours, but still. I'm on the plane right now, headed back to my home town. I've already received messages from Patrice and Zdeno before I got on the plane, but I can't help but wonder if Wags is going to send me a message.

* * *

Immediately after getting off the plane, I check my phone to see if Wags has texted me. To my surprise, he has!

"Hey, Charlie! I'm super excited you're going to be joining the Bs. See you soon." I really hope that his message is genuine and he didn't just send it because he felt like he had to.

"Thanks, man. See you soon." That's a good response, right? 

* * *

Oh my god. Charlie Coyle, my ex-boyfriend, is a Boston Bruin. We're going to be on the same team yet again. How am I supposed to deal with the awkwardness? How am I supposed to deal with the fact that I still have some feelings for him?

"Wags. I heard you used to be teammates with Coyle. Is he nice? What's his playing style like?" Torey interrogates me as we, along with the rest of our team, take off our practice jerseys. I clear my throat before answering, nervous my voice would crack due to my anxiousness about Charlie.

"Umm.. yeah, he's nice. Oh and uh he's a hardworking centerman. When I played with him, he like never lost a puck battle," I explain, looking down due to my face being red. I see Torey take notice of my nerves, but he decides not to point that out. Thank you, Torey

"Sounds like my twin," Sean adds, smiling.

"Oh no. I can't deal with _another_ Kurls. You're annoying as it is," Jake jokes, laughing at Sean. Some of the other guys in the room chuckle as well, but not me. I'm too busy freaking out about my ex being on the same team as me. I guess I should text hi, or something.

"Hey, Charlie! I'm super excited you're going to be joining the Bs. See you soon." That took me twenty minutes to write, so I hope he appreciates it.

* * *

It's been a day, and now I'm ready to meet my new teammates. I'm also ready to start interacting with my ex again. Well, that is if he doesn't ignore me like he did nine years ago. I hope that's not the case and that he's more mature now.

I walk into Warrior Ice Arena with a smile, ready to become apart of my favorite team growing up. Within a minute of being there, Patrice and Zdeno stand in front of me with huge smiles.

"Welcome home, Charlie. We're going to show you around today. Then, we'll head to the locker room and get ready for practice. Any questions so far?" Zdeno asks, his voice soft and welcoming. I politely shake my head and the tour begins. They've shown me lot's of cool rooms, from the conference room to the gym. I have already met Tuukka, Matt, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Sean, and Jaroslav.

"Here is the kitchen, where our wonderful chef, Keith, cooks us the most delicious food," Zdeno explains, earning a smile from Keith. I introduce myself to Keith and shake his hand. Then, we enter the "hangout area". I already see tons of guys chatting. I guess I'm about to shake a lot of hands. Once the first couple guys look up, everyone does. The first person to get up is Jake who welcomes me to what he calls the "chill zone". I go through probably ten guys before Wags finally gets up to face me. Suddenly, I feel like I'm underwater and I can't breathe. I didn't imagine simply seeing his face would make me feel like my stomach is being punched. I can tell he's wearing a forced smile.

"Uh.. hey. I- uh welcome," Chris says, pulling me into a somewhat awkward hug. I mean, it wasn't as awkward as I had expected.

"Thanks," I mumble into his shoulder. Something about being wrapped around Chris' arms makes me feel comfortable. I guess I've missed him more than I realized. We stay in each other's arms for a little too long before I pull back.

* * *

Oh god there's Charlie. I knew he was coming today, so I prepared myself for it last night. Although, none of my preparation seems to be paying off so far, considering I'm frozen. I guess to make things less suspicious, I'll go up to talk to him. 

I take a big gulp before approaching my former lover. When I make eye contact, I feel a rush of a million emotions go through my heart. My eyes relax at the sight of his beauty, but my brain panics from the amount of painful memories attached to him. I don't even realize how awkward this is until his awkward smile pulls me out of my thoughts. 

"Uh.. hey. I- uh welcome," I stutter, pulling Charlie into a hug. We, at very least I, seem to melt into the hug. His touch is so familiar that it's creepy. I mean, we broke up nine years ago, yet I still remember his touch. After pulling out of the hug, I see Torey give me a weird look. I quickly turn back to face Charlie, ready to finally have a meaningful conversation.

"Uh.. so how do you like Warrior so far?" I ask. That was the first thing I could think of.

"It's really nice. Speaking of Warrior, I should probably get back to touring it. I'll see you later, Wags," Charlie tells me. I understandably nod as he walks away with Bergy and Zee. Wait. Was he just trying to get out of the conversation? Does he still hate me for what I did to him?

* * *

"Uh.. so how do you like Warrior so far?" Chris asks nervously. I can tell by the way his face was red that he is nervous. Wait. Is he blushing?? No. He can't be. He ignored me for months after we broke up. There's no way he'd still have feelings for me. This is too much I can't deal with this stress.

"It's really nice," I honestly answer. "Speaking of Warrior, I should probably get back to touring it. I'll see you later, Wags," I smoothly say. He seems to understand. I start to walk out of the "chill zone".

"So you and Wags were teammates nine years ago?" Zdeno asks.

"Yeah," I plainly reply, not wanting to extend this conversation. Unfortunately, Patrice doesn't pick up on my dry response.

"And I hear he was your captain, huh? Was he a good captain?" Patrice curiously questions. As Patrice says the word "captain," my mind wanders back to something Chris said while breaking up with me. 

* * *

_"I'm the captain, so coach expects me to make the right decisions," Chris says. My eyes start to water._

_"This isn't the right decision, and you know it! We love each other and that's what truly matters. If we could just get them to understand-" I try explaining, but Chris interupts me._

_"But some people just can't understand, Charlie! It's too risky. We can't be together anymore. This is what's best for the team.This is for the sake of our careers," Chris manages to speak, while choking on his own words. Tears are streaming down both our faces. I pull Chris’ face against mine._

_"Please, Chris. We love each other, right? We could make it work. Keep our relationship secret. C'mon. Please don't do this to me," I beg, my voice cracking. Chris remains silent, but he keeps his head leaning against mine for a few intense moments. Eventually, he backs away and looks me right in the eyes._

_"I'm sorry, Charlie," Is all he says before heading out of my apartment. As soon as he's gone, I drop down to my knees and sob into the floor._

* * *

"Charlie?" Patrice asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. Just spaced out there," I awkwardly laugh. Luckily both Patrice and Zdeno also laugh. "And uh yes, he was a good captain. He was always doing what he thought was best for the team," I explain. Patrice and Zdeno nod. It was true. He thought breaking up with me would be best for the team. 

Once the tour is finished, we head to the locker room to get ready for practice.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a couple of weeks since I joined the Bruins. So far, things have been going great. We are on a roll right now, winning pretty much every game. Aside from that, things with Chris and I aren't that bad. We actually talk pretty frequently, but never about the past. I don't think either of us have the balls to, although I've come close to bringing it up. I feel like it's wrong not to address it, but what's important is that we're getting along. I just don't want to make things awkward by bringing up the past.

"Did you see JD's story? Chef JD is makin' a return," Wags chuckles, walking up to me. I raise an eyebrow. We're at Warrior an hour before practice.

"What's Chef JD?" I ask. He overdramatically gasps.

"We need to watch every single Chef JD video right now," he declares, walking over to his phone.

"Well how many are there?"

"Three," he laughs.

* * *

"Did you get to taste his shammy shake?" Charlie chuckles.

"No, thank god," I smile, seeing Torey walk up to us.

"What's up, guys?" He simply asks.

"Charlie hadn't heard of Chef JD, so I had to show him all the videos," I explain. He nods, laughing.

"He's somethin' else that kid," Torey says. "Do either of you want to play a bit of two touch?"

"Sorry, man. I still have to eat," Charlie says. "See you guys later!"

"See ya!" Torey and I say. 

"So what do you say, Wags?" Torey impatiently asks. 

"Yeah, sure." And with that, we head to the training room. "Hey, Torey," I nervously say. 

"Yesss?"

"Do you want to get lunch after practice? I want to tell you something really important," I ask, looking down.

"Yeah, for sure. And whatever you want to tell me, don't be nervous about telling me. I'm _very_ good at keeping secrets," he smiles, patting my shoulder. Although Torey is one of my closet friends, I'm still very nervous. What if he judges me? What if things get awkward between us? You know what, screw it. I already told him I want to tell him something, so there's no backing out now.

* * *

Honestly, I've never heard Chris' voice get that soft. It was as if he was just punched in the gut. I don't know what he wants to tell me, but it must be something _super_ personal. I'm glad that he trusts me with his secrets. 

As I enter the café that Chris picked out, I see him nervously gripping a glass of water. I start walking over, waiting for Chris to look up and see me. Eventually, he does, just giving me a small smile. 

"Hey, man," I say, sitting down.

"Hey," he practically whispers. This is extremely abnormal for Chris, as his voice is usually loud and annoying.

"So what did you want to tell me?" I impatiently ask. I regret asking so quick, as Chris' face turns red and he breaks eye contact with me.

"As you already know, Charlie and I were on the South Shore Kings in 2010. During that season..." he sighs, letting out a shaky breath. He's still looking down, too uncomfortable to make eye contact with me. 

"Hey. You don't have to tell me if this is too uncomfortable for you," I reassure him. He shakes his head.

"No, I want to tell you," he replies. 

"Okay. I'm glad you feel I'm someone you can trust because believe me, I won't tell a single soul about this if you don't want me to," I say. He nods and gives me a small smile.

"Thanks, man. So during that season, Charlie and I were in a... in a romantic relationship," he stammers, looking at me with desperation in his eyes. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit taken aback by this. Obviously though, I fully support Chris being in a romantic relationship with any gender.

"Wow. I'm a bit surprised, but I fully support you dating any gender you want," I smile, letting him know I'm here for him. His face floods with relief.

"Thanks, man. It means a lot."

"Of course."

"Okay, so while I was dating Charlie, we were super happy with each other. We dated for a few months, ultimately breaking up in March. I broke up with him because... well it was 2010 and back then gay rights weren't really respected. I knew that if anyone were to find out about our relationship, we'd possibly be kicked off the team," he explains, looking up at me every couple seconds to see my reaction to everything.

"Chris... I'm so sorry," is all I can come up with. I'm not really good with being super comforting. "Do...do you still have feelings for Charlie?" I ask out of genuine curiosity. Chris is hesitant before he answers.

"Yes. Him being on the same team as me now makes it worse," Chris admits. There's an awkward silence after he says that. I just don't know how to respond to that.

"Maybe you should... talk to him? I mean, I've seen you guys talking and laughing with each other, which is a very good sign." Chris nods.

"I've thought about that. I just don't know what to say to him," he says, frustrated.

"Just tell him the truth. Even if he doesn't return you're feelings, I've got your back" I suggest. He nods and gives me a smile. 

"Alright. I'll tell him."

* * *

Ever since I came out to Torey, things have gone surprisingly well. I know gay rights are much more respected now than they were nine years ago, but I'm still surprised. Maybe if Charlie and I get back together we can come out to the whole team? Speaking of that, I'm about to tell Charlie my feelings. I asked him to come to my apartment after morning skate. Although I'm super nervous, Torey has been sending me encouraging texts, which has made me feel a lot better.

"Hey, Wags. It's Charlie."

"Okay come on up," I say. I nervously look around my apartment for any messy things, trying to make sure it's perfect for him. His knock startles me out of my nervous state.

"Hey, man," Charlie smiles as I open the door for him.

"Come in, come in," I insist, too nervous to even say hello apparently. 

"Wow. Nice place," he compliments.

"Thanks," I blush. Really any compliment from Charlie, even if it's about my apartment, makes my stomach ache. "Come sit." He obliges, sitting next to me on my couch. "So uh... the reason I brought you here was because I need to confess something to you." I fidget, hoping Charlie won't take notice of how nervous I am. "Over these past few weeks, well, over these past nine years, I've always felt this regret," I say. Charlie gulps, looking at me nervously. "I regret breaking up with you, Charlie. I was selfish to do that, and I'm sorry," I mumble.

"You weren't being selfish. You had the right intentions. I realized that a little while after we broke up," he admits, the smile he previously had has vanished.

"No, Charlie! I should've put our happiness over our careers."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. You don't need to apologize," he coldly states, looking at the ground. 

"Charlie I... I'm still in love with you," I stumble on my words, shocked I actually managed to say that. 

"Wh... are you serious?" He asks, eyes wide. I nod, trying to read his emotions. He mainly looks shocked, but there might be something else. 

His open mouth slowly turns into a smile, and his smile turns into a laugh. 

"I'm still in love with you too, dumbass," he chuckles. "At first, I was pissed. But slowly, my anger turned into heartbreak because I knew I'd never get over you." I breathe out a relieved sigh.

"Wow. I uh... I guess it's only proper since _I_ was the one who broke up with you..." He looks at me, confused. "Charles Robert Coyle, will you be my boyfriend?" I ask, chuckling. He chuckles with me, his face turning red.

"Yes," is all he can manage through his nonstop laughing. I take his hand as we continue to laugh and laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! Kudos are appreciated (:


End file.
